LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fire did what they needed. After falling behind midway through the second half, Nelson Reynolds drained a 3-pointer and pushed Southeastern University back ahead for good, as they held on for an 80-71 win over Johnson University at The Furnace.
Holding a one-point lead at half, Nathan Mikkelson laid in the first bucket and SEU increased the advantage to as many as seven twice, at 46-39 and 48-41. Johnson University did not go away, turning a 3-point deficit into a 3-point lead. Down 63-62 at 7:16 remaining, Reynolds downed the trey and Joshua Blazquez followed with a pair of free throws and the Fire rode the back-to-back points for the lead and held on from there.
"We came with good energy, we took what the defense gave us and we played together," pointed out Blazquez. "Coach Welty always says 'growth mindset' so we come in with a positive mindset and a chip on our shoulder."
SEU improved to 6-7 as it goes into Christmas break. The Fire wrapped up a 3-game in 4-days stretch with a three game winning streak. Johnson University fell to 8-5 on the season.
"Our guys did a good job touching paint and sharing it, and we were hitting threes (9-of-23 on the day)," explained SEU head coach Hudson Welty. "This was a huge week for us, against three quality opponents."
Blazquez did his part with a pair of 3-pointers and led all home SEU scorers with 17 points, while he handed out six assists to go with two rebounds and a steal.
Ahmad Johnson dropped 5-of-11 from the field for 15 points and had three rebounds and three assists. Mikkelson was the final double-digit starer with 13 points on 6-of-10 attempts, with six boards.
Reynolds came off the bench where he hit four treys and totaled 14 points.
Derek Murphy added eight points, three assists, two steals and two rebounds, while Amir Brikat had his own solid game with six points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Kyonte Thomas came in and chipped in six rebounds and five points and Diego Platas contributed a bucket and three boards.
The Royals received a 20-point and 6-rebound day from Dallas Carbaugh.
SEU will now be off for the next nine days before it travels to Montgomery, Ala., for a 2 p.m. contest at Faulkner University on Monday, Dec. 30.
